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Style Advice

Inject some Spring into your wardrobe with a new jacket

January 22, 2020

OH YES I do love a jacket. And a coat. And a shacket. Oh and now an overshirt. Which is kind of a jacket if you layer it up over things or under your coat. Confused yet?

An overshirt has been something I have been getting men to wear for the past couple of seasons, but this lightweight jacket trend seems to of moved over to women’s high street retailers and is perfect for your first Spring purchase. Nearing to the end of January, the longest month ever, means a little payday reward and a new January Jacket will set you up for the coming weeks and months through Spring.

Here are my top 5 Spring jackets to shop for now -

Check jacket

Nice big bright checks, overshirt trucker style jacket with a collar or without will work over everything you currently have in your wardrobe and give it a fresh update.

Overshirt jackets

This is the trend I keep seeing everywhere right now, it’s just about finding the right one in the right colour. Essentially the same as the checks but in plain colours and oversized.

Grey workwear overshirt, £120, &other stories

Quilted linear jackets

These are starting to have their moment where the puffa has been so big this Autumn the paired down, slightly more interesting version is out there. Take your pick of great shapes and colours for a new spin on a puffa.

Quilted belted jacket, £129. Kin @ John Lewis & Partners

Quilted long jacket, £99, Arket, other colours available

Rain Mac

Come on we all need one of these in our life to save us from the crazy UK weather, isn’t it about time we invest properly in something that we also feel stylish in.

Boxy Jacket

This is the same trend as the overshirt but instead of being oversized it’s more of a fitted silhouette but still is the same shape.

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My best buys from Autumn Winter 2019

January 11, 2020

As many of you know Autumn 2019 was a turning point for me in my style journey. My littlest one started school and after 6 years of working for myself as a personal stylist it was time to review my wardrobe with more gusto rather than methodically of recent years. I really did ask myself “do I REALLY like myself in this piece of clothing”. Then it either got sold, went to charity or I popped it back in my wardrobe. Autumn saw me invest money, time and knowledge of what I wanted my style to look like into my wardrobe.

But now we hit 2020, not quite Spring yet, but a transitional few weeks in the fashion / retail calendar when stores get refreshed, new pieces hit the shops and after Christmas I get excited about new styles, colours and fashions out there. It’s been a big part of my life since my career started and I can’t switch that passion for fashion off. So before I look ahead to the next season, I wanted to look back at what I had brought over the past few months and learn some lessons from the purchases I had made.

In this blog post I am going to look at my best buys of the past few months and in next week’s blog post I will share with you my lessons that I learnt that I will take forward into 2020. I want this exercise to set me up for the season ahead, make me aware of the positive buys vs the mistakes I made and to avoid those pitfalls again so that I am not wasting money or spending money on something that doesn’t fit my lifestyle.

Today I pulled out all the newer pieces in my wardrobe and thought about the things I love the most, the ones I wore the most and will enjoy wearing for years to come. I have brought more than any normal season for me (normally I limit myself to my 5 updates per season), but that was down to my circumstances, but I still made measured decisions based on what I wanted my style to be, and I wanted pieces to last me so that I wasn’t buying throwaway fashion.

I’m hoping that my list will inspire you to take a look at your wardrobe and reassess what you brought last season, looking at the good pieces and perhaps making note of some bad habits you might be in.

So here are my best buys from Autumn 2019 to inspire you to look at yours -

GRENSON NANNETTE BOOTS

These boots were by far the best investment I have made in a long time. From the moment I brought them they have barely been off my feet. I wear them with everything and any outfit I put together looks different with these beauties on. They are not for everyone and a year ago I thought they weren’t for me, too chunky, too much hype, BUT now I cannot stop gushing (or wearing!) them. Investing in a great pair of boots that you love is an easy way to update your Autumn style.

ZARA EMBELLISHED JUMPER

Zara always pulls some great knits out of the bag on the run up to Christmas that have something a little bit special on them. I dubbed this my Christmas jumper but I have worn it many times since Christmas and will continue to. With high street stores like Zara its worth investing a little bit more money into higher prices items because the quality is better, the embellishments are nicer and they will last you longer. I find that if I wait for something special to come along and spend more money on it then I love it more. This jumper has definitely been one of my biggest hits and I’ve only had it a few weeks.

KITRI STAR DRESS

I felt so fantastic when I wore this dress. I snapped it up as soon as it came out online as I knew it was exactly the kind of dress I would love and it didn’t disappoint. I have only worn it the once, so I need to start wearing it a bit more often but I perhaps will leave it for more occasions rather than everyday, purely because I love it so much, it’s a dress that I will keep forever.

TOPSHOP WHITE JUMPER

Topshop every year seem to get some pieces of knitwear just spot on and for me this was one of them. I love the cable styling, the length, its so soft to touch. Granted the colour might put people off but I have found that I’ve reached for it often as it’s one of the only lighter colour pieces of knitwear that I have in my wardrobe. It’s been great for layering over dresses, wearing with skirts and I can even tuck it in the front of my jeans - a fab all rounder.

WHISTLES PRINTED SKIRT

I was on a mission to add a new skirt into my wardrobe this season as I detoxed a couple out of my wardrobe that didn’t fit me anymore. I ended up getting this one from ASOS with a discount code and I have worn it countless times. It is so versatile with jumpers, t-shirts, blazers, boots, heels and trainers I am sure I will be continuing to wear it when I ditch the tights in the spring.

&OTHER STORIES SPOT DRESS

I had shopped this dress for a few clients on the run up to Christmas and knew how fabulous it looked on, so I ended up not being able to resist it for myself. It was a great Christmas day dress but one that’s easy to throw on in the daytime as wearing it with my Grenson boots or trainers really help dial the Christmas feel of it down. It’s so comfy so makes me want to wear it everyday.

ZARA BALLOON JEANS

As many of my clients know I live and swear by Levi skinny jeans and for years I have not shyed away from them whilst recommending them to all my clients too. But I wanted to make a concious decision to change up my denim this Autumn so I tried the Zara balloon jeans. Granted they sometimes make me look a bit bigger in size due to the volume, but they are so comfy and if I tuck in a jumper and wear a belt then my eye is drawn to my waist rather than my hips so I am happier with my body proportions. It’s been nice to step away from the skinny jeans but I know they will always be a wardrobe staple whereas these potentially won’t be right for me next Autumn.

HUSH BLAZER

I was so excited when I saw this blazer online at Hush, I pretty much live in blazers for my work appointments and wanted to add in a single breasted one that wasn’t as busy as my other double breasted check blazer that I have had for years. I waited for the right one to come along and when it did I couldn’t be happier. It is warm handle though so I won’t be able to wear in the Spring/Summer months as it will be too hot but hopefully I’ll get so much wear out of it before then that it won’t matter. A great investment piece.

WHISTLES ZEBRA JUMPER

This jumper is a really nice lightweight knit that I can tuck into skirts and jeans, and with my obsession with green I loved the colour of it. This has certainly been a go to for me this season and a buy that I can always rely on when I’m stuck for inspiration on what to wear that day.

TOPSHOP OVERSIZED KNITTED JUMPER

I have lived in this massive oversized roll neck jumper from Topshop. I have to say it is starting to bobble quite a bit now so I’m not sure how long it will last but I have loved wearing it over dresses, skirt, with my leather leggings and jeans, it’s just been an easy throw-on jumper but yet I feel stylish wearing it. I certainly got my money’s worth as I brought it with a discount code and couldn’t of spent more than £30 on it. A great buy but quality wise it probably won’t last too much longer.

So those were my 10 best buys of Autumn Winter 2019. It just happened to be 10 and whilst I have lots of other things I love in my wardrobe these items certainly stand out as my favourites, the ones I wore the most, I felt the most stylish in and were also pieces that I felt gave me a renewed sense of style.

I would love to hear what your favourite buys were last year, so please do share them with me.

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2020 - Make it your year of colour

January 5, 2020

Alot of people say to me that they don’t know how to wear colour, they don’t own alot of colour and they prefer to stick to black as it’s easy. Whether you dress in all colours of the rainbow or you prefer a muted neutral palette, your colour season is the most important component of your personal style.

Colour has the power to instantly trigger a mood, an emotion or an association. The way I work with colour is to build the right palette for your colouring characteristics that flatter you, compliment you and give you the foundations for your style.

Finding out your colour season is the easiest way to change your life in 2020. It will cause a shift in the way you see yourself, how others see you and it increases your confidence. You start to think more carefully about the colour choices you make, and you build your wardrobe and style around them. Making getting dressed in the morning easier and shopping less stressful.

By focusing on a colour palette it gives you a concrete blueprint that you can use to curate a wardrobe that’s easy to mix and match. Your colour palette will also help you out when it comes to putting together outfits, you buy less as the pieces you get fit straight in with the rest of your clothes and you have lots of items to wear it with.

Colour “seasons” are nothing new, but I find it the most successful way of re-shaping your style and wardrobe. I help women embrace their true seasonal colours and build a wardrobe that works for you, you’ll be dressing for your season rather than the current season.

AUTUMN

SPRING

WINTER

SUMMER

Make 2020 your year of colour and style, book your consultation with me now - nina@edits-styling.com

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How to dress appropriately for evening events

November 15, 2019

I have alot of clients and friends ask me for styling, clothing and outfit advice when it comes to evening events. Events such as your work Christmas party, drinks with the Mums from school, dinner with old friends, couple’s night out or New Year’s Eve party. These evening do’s can be a minefield of what to wear and how to wear it.

Let’s start with your confidence, every single article of clothing you wear says everything about you and it also impacts how you feel. So we need to do some prep work in advance of these upcoming events to ensure that you turn up not just looking great but feeling amazing too. Take some time out to look at your wardrobe, a kind of eveningwear detox. Pull out everything that you own that you would wear on an evening out and try it on, make sure it fits, see how it feels when you put it on. Some items you might not of worn for months, years even so it’s good to get a real picture of what looks and feels good on your body. Set aside the pieces you love, that fit and that would work for your evenings out, then start trying to build some outfits from the other pieces in your wardrobe. If you are finding there are gaps then you need to get out a pen and start making a list of what is missing, for example -

Evening top to go with culottes
Jacket for the evening - blazer or leather biker
Skirt to go with sparkly sweater - faux leather or pleated
Hairband to add some style to my navy jumpsuit
New pair of heels in a bright colour to go with my skinny jeans

It needs to be clear and concise for you to be able to build a picture of what you need to make up these outfits.

I think alot of us worry about dress codes at these events, whilst there are some cases that have ‘black tie’ on the invite, mostly it is how appropriate we feel in what we are wearing for the event and the venue. Mostly this is down to our confidence, if we feel good in what we are wearing it shouldn’t matter what anyone else is wearing, who is there and where the venue is, it’s about owning your own personal style and feeling confident in it.

We can also loose our way in our styling for evening because perhaps we don’t go out as much as we used to, or the landscape of evening events has changed or for the rest of the year we live in jeans. Breaking out of the jeans for evening can be hard when you don’t have any inspiration on what else is out there to consider wearing. So I have pulled together 5 outfits to inspire you to break away from jeans with a nice top and boots for your upcoming evening events, try something more stylish, be more confident in wearing it and if you are still struggling then contact me for a consultation and fashion fix to find the items that are missing from your evening wardrobe.